A Note from Jon Baker, Interim CEO

7/14/06

The Hospital is a place that should add to the quality of life in a community. I have been the interim CEO of MCDH for just over two months; this hospital is something everyone can be proud of - - it is a quality asset to the community. What makes it an asset is the people within the organization: the employees, medical staff, Board of Directors and volunteers. These people have a passion to provide an effective health care product for their community.  This, in itself, is a formidable task for the reason that “quality” is defined so differently by different people. Basic standards of care are set and the staff strives to achieve excellence in meeting goals to maintain systems to optimize good outcomes. Is it a 100% effective system - - no, and a people business can’t be such. But, the Board of Directors strives for constant surveillance throughout the organization to seek and solve ways to maintain and improve the healthcare product provided at MCDH.

The hospital will soon become a Critical Access Hospital [CAH]. This is just one example of the constant vigilance to assure the long-term stature of a hospital to the community. The concerns of the community regarding the CAH status are the same as in most communities where a CAH transition occurs. The hospital Board and healthcare team have weighed the variables and are prepared to make its new CAH status a strength for a better MCDH primary and secondary healthcare facility. I am convinced that this goal can be achieved.

My job is to help coordinate what needs to be done. Input from the community helps me do that. Call me with your ideas and comments that can lead to better healthcare from us to you…961-4610.

Jon W. Baker

Interim CEO

Mendocino Coast District Hospital